Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced today that the city would challenge the tax exempt status of regional medical giant UPMC, a court battle that he likened to "the David versus the Goliath."
"They're not a charity," the mayor said at a press conference today. "They haven't been operating as a charity and it's time that this community step up in that regard. The reality of the situation is the taxpayers ... are currently subsidizing UPMC's non-profit status."
The mayor said he was emboldened to make the challenge by a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision last year that reaffirmed tax-exempt organizations must meet five criteria outlined in a previous court case, including one that requires them to operate without profit motive.
"Is UPMC acting as a purely public charity?" Mr. Ravenstahl asked. "In my opinion, it doesn't even pass the smell test."

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The story doesn't yet spell out the grounds for the challenge, but the implications could be huge for local governments and BOEs.
I can see this heading to SCOTUS before it is said and done.